Something awful in a new CBC anthem. The CBC's Hockey Night in Canada is one of the highest-rated programs on Canadian television. It's something of a national shrine to our beloved sport. For the past 40-odd years, it's had a distinctive theme which most Canadians could hum. After something of a fiasco, the CBC lost the rights to the theme. They're running a contest to replace the venerated theme. A Something Awful forum user composed a truly dreadful entry ("mostly comprised of cat and sheep sounds, baby cries, and gunshots/explosions"), and got the community to 'vote it up' on the Anthem contest site. You really need to hear the awfulness to truly appreciate it.
posted on Jul 18, 2008 - View this thread

A few days ago a post appeared on the Something Awful forums noting a curious website called Notes to Mary. The notes are a series of threatening letters from a high schooler named Robert to his crush, Mary. The goons figured out pretty quickly that they had an ARG on their hands and went to work on solving the puzzle. Several other forums picked up on the game. Robert began interacting with players, sending them strange messages and several series of numbers that appeared to be some sort of code. A Flickr pool was started. Players even created an IRC channel to swap clues and information in real time. The Notes to Mary site offered a link to a login. All effort was made to crack the user/pass combo. Finally, several days after the game began, users were finally able to log in. The game was solved. The players would be rewarded for their hard work. Where did the login lead? Here.
posted on Jun 25, 2008 - View this thread

How to act on an internet forum. Yup, just a single link to a video – informative on how to behave nevertheless. Even here on Metafiler.
posted on Feb 22, 2008 - View this thread

Magical dragon-faeries? Flaxen-hair'd elflords? Dank scary dungeons, reminiscent of Grandpa's basement? Kids' stuff. Whether you're a Camwhore, Emo Kid, or Troll, Forumwarz everything relevant about the Internet (i.e., Forums and IM) distilled down to a browser-based RPG. Buy warez from shady Russian dealers, upgrade your hacking/whining skills, pwn total strangers by crashing their web sites, and join or fight a shadowy government conspiracy. You have nothing to lose but your dignity.
posted on Feb 20, 2008 - View this thread

I've thought a lot over the last couple years about the problem of trolls. It's an old one, as old as forums, but we're still just learning what the causes are and how to address them.
posted on Feb 19, 2008 - View this thread

Suicide bombers in Valhalla "Sverige fights back! I'll see the heroes in Valhalla, inshallah." Where can you find an eclectic mix of Fascists, Libertarian Socialists, Trotskyists, National Anarchists, DPRK apologists, Dixie lovers, Christian Reconstructionists and Islamists all in one place?
posted on Feb 15, 2008 - View this thread

It's hard to believe that, back before the Internet but after the first edition of Dungeons of Dragons, there was a time when we had no easy way to pool the world's knowledge of evolutionary biology, lizard genetics, Pern, and martians to answer that most pressing question: should male RPG fans draw female humanoids descended from dragons with ginormous racks, or without?
posted on Feb 3, 2008 - View this thread

Some Russian online communities like to take on unusual challenges. Courtesy of English Russia.
posted on Dec 17, 2007 - View this thread

Professional Pilots Rumor Network is not recommended reading if you care to fly again. For example, you will discover that what was was initially described by the FAA as a "vibration in the No. 2 engine" was actually uncontained engine failure. Passengers who were on the flight could have told you that. Am I editorializing to say that I'm amazed that this forum is public?
posted on Nov 27, 2007 - View this thread

Rome Reborn is a digital model of ancient Rome as it might have appeared on June 21, 320 AD, including the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. More info.
posted on Jun 11, 2007 - View this thread

Universe Today is a news site for astronomy geeks. Don't miss its sibling, the Bad Astronomy Forum, which not only features examples of bad astronomy, but also discussions of space exploration and astrophotography. (If you like astrophotography, you're probably already aware of NASA's astronomy photo of the day.) But my favorite part of the whole site is the free astronomy eBook, What's Up 2007: 365 Days of Skywatching. If only it would only stop raining, maybe I'd grab some binoculars and go outside for some stargazing...
posted on Jan 3, 2007 - View this thread

A Conversation With Steven Colbert [video]: Covering issues from truthiness to anti-Semitism in comedy to boxers vs. briefs, Colbert spent over an hour on Friday answering questions at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
posted on Dec 4, 2006 - View this thread

Start with "The Crazyest Denim Experiments Of Superfuture History." And then make sure you read the rest of this forum for people seriously obsessed with denim.
posted on Oct 27, 2006 - View this thread

Web discussion forums have some fantastic content. There is an excellent rank-ordered, categorized index of many of them, but the attempts to create a search engine for these forums, akin to that which already exists for the newsgroups, have generally failed. Let's wish Omgili some luck then. Maybe even do so in their forum.
posted on Sep 25, 2006 - View this thread

Surreal, fantastic realist, psychedelic and visionary artists, sculptors and forum. Sites created by Jon Beinart.
posted on Aug 4, 2006 - View this thread

Sex & Games Finally, a place that seems to discuss sexuality in videogames as an adult topic. Brand new forum/blog/branch of the IGDA, their leadership is a) mostly female, b) commited to "The right of developers to work together to create sexually themed games free of censorship and regulation," and encouraging parental responsibility and c) a nice tonic for Jack Thompson's hysteria.
posted on Aug 15, 2005 - View this thread

"I can't tell you where I am, but I can tell you I love free wireless internet. I know some of you like those fools, but they were trying to front and I can't let that lie." The BBC News article declares, Message Board Argument Ends In Murder, describing how an argument on a San Diego web forum prompted one member to shoot two others. Except the "message board argument" isn't over. The BBC piece linked directly to the thread where the fight began, so the moderator removed the original posts and started a new one to talk about the murders. Now the alleged shooter, still on the run, is apparenly back on the board, taunting his shocked former friends. It's been a weird week on the Internet.
posted on May 25, 2005 - View this thread

Pop Quiz Hotshot: You're in the middle of an arena. You're being attacked by 5 year olds who will stop at nothing to kill you. How many can you take on before they overcome you? (from twobytwo forums)
posted on Mar 22, 2005 - View this thread

I found a digital camera in the woods
posted on Aug 24, 2004 - View this thread

The funniest and most disgusting story ever. This personal story on the forums of a bodybuilding website looks like it is on the way to becoming an Internet classic (warning... SFW, but scatological). Snopes doesn't have this one... the nearest we get is this.
posted on Mar 30, 2004 - View this thread

What the world thinks of America... are we about to find out for sure? A special live global forum will be broadcast in a dozen countries later this week, hosted in London, and bringing in the opinions of media representatives of Israel, France, Australia, Brazil, Jordan and more. The forum also features the likes of Benazir Bhutto and Joe Klein. Whatever your opinion of the part the United States plays in our world, it's undeniable that it will be a dominating force in the near future.
posted on Jun 16, 2003 - View this thread

planetmath.org. I'd say more but there's just too much here. Browse around.
posted on May 2, 2003 - View this thread

Like a hole in the head, like an old Onion link, like an outburst of cholera, MetaFilter needs these custom-made Flames. But some of them are hilarious. And anyway, as has been posted before, we didn't start the fire. [Flash needed for this latter golden oldie. Via Linkfilter. NSFW.]
posted on Apr 20, 2003 - View this thread

"We often do this, changing the subject or saying something really obnoxious, to take the wind out of trolls' sails." Apparently, some people get paid to report on the contents of web discussion boards. What a sweet gig. Especially for a "journalist" who has no ear for irony, and doesn't know what "trolling" is. Quoting an Epinions reviewer as supporting material is a new low point in "news" reporting. (more inside)
posted on Jan 24, 2003 - View this thread

Food For Thought For Serious Foodies And Would-Be Pros: Egullet.com is mainly written by professional cooks for professional cooks but obsessive, perfectionist gastronomes like you and I can join in too. It's delightful and delicious; like a MetaFilter for fussy gluttons, over-curious gourmets and gastro-porn addicts. Today, celebrated chefs Dan Barber and Michael Anthony, currently wowing New Yorkers at the Blue Hill restaurant, will be answering questions from hoi-polloi such as ourselves. My question's already in...[ From the August issue of Food and Wine magazine, where Michael Anthony was interviewed as one of the best new American chefs.]
posted on Jul 25, 2002 - View this thread

Anonymous speech on the web is not protected. A Florida court ruling could force forum hosts to identify posters by name, if they post defamatory messages. Could this ruling lead to more civil exchanges on the net, or will curtailing unfettered speech reduce the amount and scope of many discussions?
posted on Oct 16, 2000 - View this thread

Another online discussion forum experiences growing pains. Lance writes: "glassdog.CLUB is a good example of what can go wrong in an online community." And so he's pulling the plug. Perhaps killing something while it's still young is the only way to keep it from growing old and dying miserably?
posted on Jun 27, 2000 - View this thread